Overview & Reviews

The Saturn brand, which was part of General Motors, has been discontinued as of the 2009 model year. Though popular in its early years, Saturn suffered from poor sales and was shuttered as part of GM's bankruptcy reorganization.

Despite its sad end, Saturn started with a bright future. After losing market share to Japanese imports during the '80s, General Motors launched Saturn, a new division that began selling small, low-priced cars in 1990. The division promoted itself as "different," with Saturn dealers offering no-haggle pricing and friendly customer service.

Saturn made its debut with the S Series line of vehicles. Available in sedan, coupe and wagon configurations, these Saturns differentiated themselves from other GM products with all-new platforms and flexible plastic panels meant to resist denting. Additionally, the brand was granted its own plant, with all Saturns being built at a dedicated facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee. These first Saturns weren't exactly built to burn rubber; they were powered by engines that offered from 85-124 horsepower. The payoff, though, was that these were among the most fuel-efficient vehicles of their day, offering up to 40 miles per gallon (when equipped with a manual transmission).

Just after the brand's conception, GM boasted that Saturn vehicles would benefit from rapid evolution, but in the early years, this wasn't the case. The brand's vehicles saw only one redesign in their first decade of existence. The revamp took place in the mid-'90s, and for the most part, it was only skin deep. Exteriors were spruced up and interior room saw a slight increase.

The Saturn brand enjoyed some success in its earliest years, fueled by buyers who were in love with its unique approach to customer relations that included "no-haggle" pricing. By the turn of the century, though, the novelty had worn off. With dated platforms and a limited range of products, the marque was neglected by GM, and disappointing sales figures showed that buyers had taken note and chosen to spend their dollars elsewhere.

GM responded by ramping up its commitment to the Saturn brand. In 2000, it rolled out the L Series; sharing a platform and an engine with the Opel Vectra (one of GM's European products) the sedan was the opening salvo in GM's ultimately futile fight to resuscitate the struggling brand. An SUV, the Vue, was unveiled, as was a minivan, the Relay. The S Series was replaced by the lamentable Ion, which was available as a sedan and a coupe. GM also added a hybrid to the lineup, with the introduction of the Saturn Vue Green Line.

Later, Saturn included the sporty Sky roadster, the midsize Aura sedan, the compact second-generation Vue crossover and the full-size Outlook crossover. For a brief period, there was also the European-sourced Astra compact hatchback.

Despite the increase in product quality, however, the Saturn brand effectively collapsed in 2009. As part of GM's bankruptcy proceedings, Saturn was offered up for sale. Initially, it was believed that the Penske Corporation would take over Saturn. But the deal fell through at the last minute, thereby spelling the final end for GM's import-fighting experiment.

User Reviews:

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  Terrible car - 2007 Saturn ION
  By spiderrig - October 14 - 7:23 am

  Nothing but bad things with this car. I have 39,000 miles and already have had to replace the power steering, the fuel pump, the sensor on the accelerator (TWICE!), the wiring in the driver door, the back glass (defroster wasnt working). Some wiring in the console was found corroded due to poor connection. The gas mileage has been OK at around 28-29 MPG, but I expected better for such a little car. Also, the rubber seals around the windows are buckled and look terrible. I also had to replace the tires at 27,000 miles for dry rot. The worst car I have ever owned and Im 40 and have had a more than a few old beat up cars. They all ran better than this one did. I like GM, but hate Saturn.

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  VUE is a poor choice - 2006 Saturn VUE
  By drpassport - October 1 - 7:36 pm

  This is the 3rd Saturn I have owned. The quality of workmanship is poor at best. A month after I purchased this the rattles began. Just about every single person that has ridden in the vehicle has remarked about how loud the interior noise was on the road. I will never buy another. I am back with a Honda a loving everyday. Ah, the ability to have the windows up and not hear absolutely every sound is amazing. Mileage is not as good as they claim. I got 23 MPG on the highway. City driving was in the low 20s.

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  Worst Model Yet - 2003 Saturn ION
  By adida5796 - July 17 - 10:00 am

  Ive had my saturn ion for a little over a year. Its been in the shop 7 times now, the 7th tommorow. Its had a leaky motor, a broken cd player, a recall, the transmission slips and the RPMs race and the car jerks forwards, the brakes are terrible as they are going in tommorow because the car makes a creeking sound when stopping and maneuvering. I wouldnt recommend this car to anyone who wants reliability and comfort unless you like roadtrips cause you will be taking many of those back to the dealership to get repairs! The car has a lot of problems with noises and they are very annoying. Id get a Civic or Toyota! Too bad im suck in the lease!

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  Saturn Vue - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By buy foreign - July 3 - 3:56 am

  I have owned for two years. I bought used with 20k miles. in last lear have replaced wheel bearings. catlatyc converter and many more things. I just traded for a Honda. It has cost me over 3000.00 in repairs and the transmision is now going. This was a bad transmission from gm and although they will replace if bought new. I would have been required to pay25% ofrepair bill a total of 1200.00. Will never buy another

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  2004 Saturn Vue 4cyl - 2004 Saturn VUE
  By Phil - June 24 - 9:46 am

  Very poor design, cheap cheap cheap! Bad acceleration, paint chips off dash/radio covering, Break problems, premature tire wear, steering column issues, and CD player issues.

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  Mechanical nightmare - 2007 Saturn ION
  By otis23 - June 22 - 8:44 am

  After buying the car used 2007 in mid 2011, the head cracked 10 months later for no apparent reason, spewing oil everywhere to a tune of over $2K. Now the front end shakes and vibrates periodically like the car is falling apart, and sounds like a helicopter under the hood at other times. Time to dump it.

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  If you like sitting in the waiting area. - 2003 Saturn VUE
  By T.C. - May 21 - 10:00 am

  I"ve had my VUE less than a year and have taken it in for the "Service Engine Soon" sensor light 5 times. The 1st three times it was the emissions, the 4th time was the coolant, the 5th time was only one day after the 4th time. They still can not figure out what is wrong and I have to take it back for a 6th time. The gas mileage is not the greatest. The AWD has kicked in unexpectedly when it didnt need to. I cant wait to get rid of this lemon.

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  Worst vehicle ever! - 2007 Saturn Outlook
  By dissapointed9 - May 18 - 7:40 am

  This is the worst vehicle weve ever owned.It was purchased new in 07 & has been a complete dissapointment since.It started with engine problems(cams/housing was manufactured incorrectly) & was in the shop apx. 2 weeks for a rebuild. Within days of this repair, the power steering pump failed. This happened at apx 40,000 miles. This spring the wipers failed, leaving us in a dangerous situation.Within a few months of that incident, the transmission failed and again was in the shop several weeks. Immediately after the transmission repair, the low gears failed to engage. Conveniently, it was a computer problem, so not covered under warranty. Today the dash lights/displays failed.Whats next?

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  18 trips to the shop in 2 yrs. - 2005 Saturn Relay
  By J Robinson - April 13 - 10:40 am

  Ive bought 2 relays. My 1st was totaled in an accident so we bought a 2nd. Ive been to the shop 18 times in 2.5 yrs. Ive had my rotors replaced 2x, 5 drive belts in 8 wks., 2 tensioner in 8 wks., new heater system, onstar unit, side panels, wood trim, pwr steering unit. Ive had my computer reset so my headlights dont fail. My pwr doors open when driving, (with my 3 children in the back.) those are just some of the problems weve had. Ive dealt w/ Saturn assistance & they offered me free oil changes to make it right. I will never buy another Saturn again. I may never buy gm b/c of this. I no longer support Saturn in anyway. They do not take care of their customers.

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  Saturn ION review - 2004 Saturn ION
  By Ron - April 12 - 12:23 pm

  The interior quality of the ION is poor. However, the engine runs well, is reliabile, and has fairly good MPG for a small car.